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Saturday, April 23, 2016

For a novel that billed itself as one that adhered to real science, I was slightly worried that it would lose sight of the one thing that no Fiction, let alone Science Fiction, should ever ignore. That is: A Good Story.

Fortunately, I had a good time. There was plenty of good science, but above the Campbellian ideal, this author never lost sight of the fact that interesting characters and an exciting story will always carry the day.

This is a thriller. Mind you, it's a technical thriller, but it is still a thriller to its core. There's lots of action and intrigue and it spans across several star systems thanks to at least one or two slight stretches of Handwavium in the "discovered" elements that allowed us to manufacture our own naked wormholes. There's also the matter of nanotech advancement, but I didn't say that this was a novel based on our current level of science or that I was going to rule out possible unforeseen discoveries. Hyperium and the last reveal of the novel aren't outside of the realm of possibility, mind you, but it is much easier to swallow when we imagine both as having been manufactured by an intelligence rather than being mysteriously "found". In this respect, the author is moving no further outside of the lines than Arthur C. Clarke ever did, and I think that's rather the point.

The author focused on story, political and economical pressures, and most of all, on love.

We readers do love to feel a connection to the characters, don't we? :) Well, I did. I wasn't quite sure I would, and a few pages made me wonder, but I'm very happy that I stuck with it. There wasn't a wasted passage.

I'll absolutely continue on with the series and wish the author all the very best luck! Here's to a grand adventure!

And lastly, thank you for the ARC. I was certainly not disappointed with the story nor the science. :)

Goodreads

That goblin was just the sweetest child emperor I've ever known. He was always courteous and polite, even when he was abducted. He was so centered and contained even during that that time he almost took the knife of that assassin. Do you...

Crowd of Bone
Sparse and perfect prose as poetry. Old tales piled upon myth and returning back to tale. If your bones could tell the tale through the ashes, they would step through the seasons. You would run in the clouds.
This is poet...

As always, the fight scenes are top-knotch, over the top, and satisfyingly overpowered. Oh, and new reveals for our MC's! Actual Limitations? Holy Crap! I never would have guessed!
As a side note, I'd like to point out that while I real...

So the Union bullies are back and are even more powerful and stupid than the last crew that came by. Who knew? Oh, at least they brought along an Elder who is gonna get betrayed, and hard, by Evil Villian #1. Convenient, eh? Who cares. T...

It was funny to see all of these uber-powerful characters pussyfoot around with each other, each one pretending to be perfectly normal humans. The kids were amusing in their own right, but it's always about the uber-powerful in the end.
...